Twiggy

Chapter 7

      I crept up on a terribly unsuspecting mouse, keeping silent. It brushed through tiny shrubs and grass, not pausing. It couldn't tell I was here. I waited until it was completely still before making the killing pounce. I snatched it up into the air with my powerful claws, sending it up into the sky. It flew through the air and I ran to catch it. When it was back on the ground, I saw it, but as a small dark boulder. The comet. I unsheathed my claws and growled, beginning to shred at the mouse. Blood welled at deep scratches and it began to turn into a pulpy mess.
      I heard a gasp from behind me. "Twiggy, what are you doing?" Silver Sky asked, shielding Comet's eyes with her tail.
      "I er . . . I was practicing so I could fight our enemies?" I said, but it came out as a question. Silver Sky rolled her eyes. She padded forward and licked me with her rasping tongue.
      "It's fine, but don't do it again. It's going to snow soon and we need all the prey we can get. Now you should bury this before it attracts a fox or something."
      As she spoke, it came to my attention that she was out here- with Comet. "Hey! I told you to stay at the den!"
      "Actually no you didn't." Silver Sky disagreed. "And besides, I'm perfectly capable of caring for myself."
I shook my head. Why did the only cats in my life have to be so stubborn? Could I live even a minute in peace? But I did realise that they did stop me from shredding the mouse. . . .
Silver Sky was flicking her tail back and forth impatiently. I could see she was upset that I would waste food like that and Comet was plainly confused. Her jaw was moving as if she wanted to ask a question, and her tortoiseshell pelt bristled at the sight of shredded mouse. "Why?" Silver Sky asked again.
She just told me that she would leave me alone as long as I didn't do it again! What happened to that.
I didn't want to argue anymore so I just answered as honestly as possible. "I imagined it as the comet and took my rage out on it."
Silver Sky had a worried look in her eyes. "Oh, Twiggy. . . . Go back to the den. I'll finish hunting."
"What about Comet?" I was quick to reply.
"I can start teaching her to hunt."
"But she's so young!"
"She'll be fine."
I turned around and trudged tiredly back to the giant stone den. I collapsed into my miss nest and was enveloped by black.
~~~~~~**********~~~~~~
Cold light drifted through the gray fog that surrounded the forest. I looked around, dragging in all the images in view. The light was from the moon, a silver disc in the sky. The fog was like a freezing blanket- covering me and yet freezing me. I wanted to be back home at my nest, but that wasn't likely to happen. I was in another dream. Another creepy, weird, and haunting dream. Maybe this one would reveal a better clue.
I ventured deeper into the fog, lifting my paws carefully. However, my careful movements only got me caught in more trouble. I began to trip over thin air. How was that even possible? As I began to feel tormented, my paw landed in a mushy watery mess. A bog. Lovely.
The same voice entered my head as last time. "You're walking the wrong way. You're entering your doom." I started, and it chuckled. "No, no, the other way. Are you really this stupid Twiggy." It sounded more like a statement than a question.
I didn't reply. I knew this sly voice. It would talk and talk, never getting to the point. Then when I was the least unsuspecting, it would pounce, clawing me to the ground, a sacrifice to the comet. It was sick.
"Twiggy, where are you? You should be answering me."
I stiffened as I felt fur brush against my pelt. But it didn't feel like normal fur . . . more like a presence of it. It was ghostly, as if it was only a little more than the fog pressing on all sides.
It paused. "I can tell you're here somewhere. I can smell your fear."
How could I have forgotten? Fear was one of the strongest scents, and I had just led this thing to me. . . . What would I do?
I pressed against the ground, trying to quietly roll in the mud and water to mask my scent. After I did, I stayed close to the ground. Maybe it would keep it from seeing me.
I heard an exasperated sigh from somewhere nearby. "Twiggy you are annoying."
I uncovered my ears and opened my eyes to see a pretty silver she-cat standing in front of me.
"Twiggy, come on, you're starting to waste my time."
I saw claw marks on the ground and jolted. Was the voice nearby. Then I looked up. A light was blazing through the sky towards me. Another comet, oh great. Just as it almost arrived- "TWIGGY!"
I opened my eyes, startled. "What!" I exclaimed.
"You weren't waking up. I was getting worried." Silver Sky frowned.
I sighed again. Seriously? Sure she had woke me up from a nightmare, but she had also woken me from something that may have been an important sign as of what would happen.
"I was dreaming about the comets again," I explained. "Those are important dreams."
Silver Sky got a worried look in her eyes. "But it scares you!"
"Yes, but they also have clues."
"Like what?"
"They tell me where the comets will fall?"
"That sounded like a question."
I rolled my eyes, and Silver Sky purred. "I won." Then she scampered away to play with Comet.
No you didn't. Now I can go back to sleep! I closed my eyes, and drifted away, hopefully to the land of fog.